If the Maple Leafs actually feel they have sole veto power to keep another franchise from locating in southern Ontario, guess again.
So says National Hockey League deputy commissioner Bill Daly.
"The League has been consistent in its view that any proposed relocation into southern Ontario would require only a majority vote of the Board of Governors, and no team would have a veto right," Daly said in an email last night.
"While we respect that the Leafs may have a different interpretation (although it's not even clear that they do at this point), at the end of the day, it is the Commissioner and the League that is ultimately charged with interpreting the NHL Constitution and by-laws."
Lawyers involved in Blackberry magnate Jim Balsillie's bid to purchase the Phoenix Coyotes and relocate the franchise to Hamilton have suggested the league is blocking Balsillie's attempt out of fear of litigation from the Leafs.
